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Well I sat for my 3rd test today. Scored a Q47 and a V35 for a total of a 670. Im pretty ticked off about my verbal since I have been scoring consistently around the 39-45+.

But im not upset b/c I did improve from my last two scores of 640. Ironically, I recieved the highest quant and highest verbal of my two earlier tests...

Owell. The score isn't terrible, but I know I should have reached a 690-720.

Quant Breakdown: I actually was schocked to see a Q47. I probably guessed on about 9 problems! Ouch... ya I choked on the quant. I really can't stress enough how important it is to do hard problems for quant... but TIME YOURSELF! I didn't do this on the challenges or on most of the difficult math problems I did and I think this hurt me in the quant. I should have scored about a 48-50. But I'm not too upset b/c the quant couldve been much worse. I think I got a bit lucky here.

Verbal: my performance on the quant really got in my head for the verbal, but I didn't feel that I did awful here. I finished right on time and didnt have to rush through anything.

I'm pretty confident I did very well on the RC's and CR's. I got the longest RC I have ever done today. Just so ridiculous. Luckily, I had ample time when I reached this RC so I didnt have to rush through it. I probably missed about 2-3RC's and 2-3CR's. SC's are probably what killed me. These are usually a hit or miss for me. I'm not terrible at SC's, I know the grammatical rules, but I always get stuck btwn a two or so. On all my practice exams, SC's are always the culprit to a lower verbal score.

I know many ppl on this forum rally for how great the MGMAT SC book is, but in my experience I don't think its the magic bullet for SC's. Meaning it won't get you that 40+ verbal score. The book doesn't go over some key concepts such as ellipsis. I believe the book is neccessary for a solid base understanding though.

Its too bad about the verbal, b/c I know I probably did phenominal on the CR's and RC's. but thats just the name of the game.

I also think MGMAT verbal can be misleading. The MGMAT SC's in their tests are too easy in my opinion. Way too close to how the SC's are taught in the MGMAT SC book. In reality I think the GMAT's SC's are much more difficult.

My target schools now are Cornell, NYU, and Emory. Unfortunetly I don't plan to apply for about 2 years so I dunno how viable my score will be then for these schools. Their averages are probably going to go up. Hopefully my math score will help me out. I do have a GPA higher than their average. A 3.5 cumm. and 3.8 major. I speak Japanese. My job will send me abroad to Hong Kong and Japan in about a year so I think Il have some great work experience.

I think its time though for me to start a new chapter in my life for now. I begin my first real job on Tuesday in NYC. I will have to start studying for my CFA in a few months. I need to take calculus for my future MBA in finance. I have to take the Jap. proficiency exam. etc... so many things.

Should I need to, I will retake this exam in the future. But for now I need to focus on my new job and other facets of my life I have neglected for the past few months.

I also have to remember where I really started with this exam. I was at the bottom. I never got anything higher than a C in any math except college algebra my freshman year, which was just a complete joke. My SAT's were a 1080 (back in the day w/o the new system). My first GMAT I believe was around a 420 or something... that was with DOUBLE the time. So in reality I cannot ignore how far I have really come. I can confidently put excellent analytical skills and quant. skills on my resume b/c of this test. I can read MUCH faster and actually understand it. I used to struggle somewhat with readings in the economist. Meaning it took me forever to understand the article. I don't have that problem anymore. I can pick apart arguments from articles to the news quite easily thanks to the CR's. So as much as I hate this test, it really has made me a better and smarter person. I can appreciate why B-schools hold this test to such high esteem.

Congrats man ..Dude I think its pretty decent score now and it should get in some top colleges. And it may not be worth a try now particularly because GMAT takes some much time away from work and other activities. I would suggest take a break , start putting more effort in your work and time for yourself . Assess your situation . Give yourself a break .See where you can get in . And probably after 6 -8 months, if you still wanna go past that magic number , you can give a shot.But at this moment,lets call it a day . Make peace with GMAT . You did nail it down to certain extent . And its time to focus on other things.Good Luck.

that's a good score...around 87% right? With your work future work experience, it sounds like you'll be a competitive candidate due to the international thing. hope to see you around the boards still. good luck with NYC.

congrats dude, its a good enough score to keep you in play at most of the top schools. I don't know about your nationality, etc. but if you are anything other than an Indian IT, Chinese engineer, White banker/consultant you should have a fair shot as long as you can write great essays and have an unique story.

However, if your long-term goals are to pursue MBA from a top school, I would strongly urge you to not completely disassocaite yourself from the GMAT. Focus on your work and life but at the same time take a couple of hours every other weekend to do some GMAT tough problems and occasionally participate on these forums. Just do enough to ensure that your GMAT skills don't get buried in some dark corner in your head; if you take a strategic approach, you will be able to breeze through your GMAT in a year without ever having to go through the hell of studying 8 hour days.

just my 2 cents...if you don't have time to build on what you have learnt, atleast try to save it...

Good score. and time is your best ally. when you have 2 years to plan your work experience, you can really make it stand out. I would do some good volunteer work, lots of interesting projects, be a self-starter, etc. You will be set for some of the top schools.

I was actually thinking about you on the bus to work this morning. So its nice to read your debrief this morning when I got into work.

All the best for your new career and I think most of us experienced folk ("oldies") on this board wish we had done the same as you, i.e take the GMAT early in our careers and plan it out a bit more towards an MBA. I respect the path you have taken.

Like eschn3am and others, I think take a break, shine in your new job and retackle the beast if you need to in the next couple of year.

GBB, I am not sure about other schools, but I think NYU has this strange rule about GMAT. Applicant should have taken the test within 1.5 yrs of applying for the program. You may want to check the dates again, because I am not 100% sure. Congratulations in any case.

A 670 is an awesome score. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. You earned that score.

Also, you have constantly improved. When the adcoms go over your scores, they're going to notice that. As you know, the GMAT doesn't directly measure a individual's motivation or persistance, but taking the exam three times and improving 30 points paints a clear picture of your leadership potential to me.

Kudos, dude. You should be proud of how much you improved and how much you dedicated yourself to this rotten test. My hat's off to you. You kept fighting, and even though you didn't see the score you really wanted, it's still a very competitive score and you earned it!

It has been nice to see you on these boards and I like your avatar too...my husband is a black belt in tae kwon do and seeing that pic makes me think of him (even though he's sitting only a few feet from me on his own computer!).

We will miss you here, but we'll think well of you and wish you MUCH success...as I am sure success is in the cards for you!

Everyone thanks so much. I have always recieved so much support in my previous posts for my test reports and this one is no different.

I would like to send out a special thanks to: ywilfred, eschn3am, bmwhype, killersquirrel, ravenshonbek, ashkrs, walker, srp, solaris, alimad, eyunni, and so many many more that I cannot remember right now. (I will post more names!)

I will not depart completely from GMATClub. I will be tutoring my old college roomate here in NYC so he can get a 620+ score. I think ive become quite a geek now because I really like doing GMAT problems. I was waiting down by wallstreet in borders for the apt. broker so I decided to pass the time by doing math problems from the PR 08 book =)

At this point though, I must focus on other factors of my life. First I need a place to live! Second I need to focus on my job. I know that if they ship me abroad that will look very nice on my resume for grad schools. Especially if they ship me to Japan, where I can utilize my cultural and language skills... at the bar... I mean work.

Anyway here is the breakdown of all the tests I ever took over the last 6months. They are in order of completion

Kaplan Diagnostic: 400 --> double time and didn't even finish. I got too angryMGMAT1: 420--> more than double the timeMGMAT2: 640 --> more than double the time alloted. + got really lucky w/ several guessesMGMAT3: 640--> double the time.MGMAT4: 670--> +10-15min for math, +10min for verbalMGMAT5: 690 --> +10-15min for math, no extra time for verbalGMATPrep1: 640 GMATPrep2: 710: this score was inflated. I saw 4 repeat maths, that were diffuclt+5 repeat verbals. Def overboosted my confidence. 5 correct answers, especially on the verbal can make a HUGE difference in the score.Actual GMAT: 640 Q47 V31: Ya see what I'm talkin bout w/ the Verbal. If you see repeats, verbal is def. inflatedGMATPrep Repeat: 720--> repeats so not really accurateGMATPrep Repeat: 740--> repeats so not very accurateActual GMAT: 640: Q44 V35: Verbal improved, quant I dunno what happened, I felt very good... owellPaper Test 14: 720Paper Test 25: 750Paper Test 28: 740Paper Test 31: 700Paper Test 37: 730Paper Test 42: 710Paper Test 48: 690 (this was actually the second paper I took, I dont recall the exact order of these tests except for this one)Paper Test 55: 720Paper Test 52: 750MGMAT6: 780 Q 50 V47 +10 for Math, 15min to spare for verbalPR Free CAT: 700 Q50 V37 All on timeI did a GMATPrep Repeat, but its so inflated: 770 Q49 V47

Quant Challanges: I no longer have the records of my earlier challenges: I ranged anywhere from 48%-97% on these. Majority were around the 79-84% for me. I scored more 90's than I did 40's so I guess thats pretty good. One thing though, I def took extra time on the majority of these. Some were just so hard and time consuming. But nevertheless, the challenges are excellent and actually quite fun!

I still have 1 challenge left =)

Verbal Challenges: I didn't really like these as much as the Quant's. I think my scores ranged from 75-87. I may have gotten 1 90%+ here, but dsnt really make a difference to me. The tests are relatively new so some problems do exist here. Still decent practice though.

Sorry for late congradulations. I was taking the test this Fri in a city that is 980 km away from home. Just got back, unpacked my bag and logged on here.

Buffdaddy in London said it very good: Most of us aren't career starters. Had I taken the test four-five years ago I would not have scored even 400! =) I did not even know of its existence then!

670 is a good score (I scored almost the same). But I don't feel that's your maximum score. I liked your reasoning in the above post (analysis of where you've been and where you are now, other achiviements you have in your portfolio) and the plan you have in mind. If in two-three years time, when you'll be eyeing an associate role, you still think higher GMAT would add any meaningful scores to your application to the UE schools (come on, you should aim at dream schools!) go and get it! I'm confident by that time your Verbal will shine.

You are right in saying the GMAT is more than just a test! So I intend to stay here for a while also.

Congrats. You def studied you ass off. It really proves that luck comes into play with the questions they throw at you. I think the margin of error on the score is around 40 points, maybe higher.

I think you are correct about the challenges and timing. I have been doing them timed, and they are really difficult, I rarely score very high, but I do learn things from doing them. Some are complete mind-fs and I can't imagine ever coming up with the solution even after looking at the explanation.

I am wondering if a better timing system should be created for them, say 5 minutes per problem since they are so hard rather than the 75 minutes. Since on the gmat you are going to get some difficult ones thrown in there along with some medium level questions. Evaluating a timed score on the challenge is depressing, when it really shouldn't be.

Congrats bro! I know how hard you worked. Thanks for all the help getting me prepared! I think you should move on to other things. A 670 is a great score, to the point where most top schools won't be concerned with your academic ability. As others have said, you have the potential to do better and YOU know it, so perhaps when you get back into the swing of things in a year or two you might try again. Enjoy NYC!